


Ridin' Cows and Herding Horses

by VivArney



Category: CHiPs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 11:04:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5624668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VivArney/pseuds/VivArney





	Ridin' Cows and Herding Horses

Officer Frank Poncharello sat slumped in one of the green plastic chairs in the report room. His dark eyes were focused on the pencil he was absently rolling back and forth across the table in front of him.

The door opened, letting in a burst of noise from the busy corridor outside, then the silence returned.

“What are you doing in here, Ponch?” Sergeant Joe Getraer asked. “Briefing's in a couple of minutes.”

Poncharello looked up. “Huh?”

Getraer repeated his question.

The Sergeant frowned. Something had to be wrong. It wasn't like Ponch to sit off by himself like this. The handsome, young C.H.P. Officer was usually in the middle of a crowd.

Ponch moved to leave the room.

“Wait, Frank,” Getraer said, taking a seat across the table from the other man. “Is everything okay?”

Ponch smiled. “Are you kidding, Sarge? Everything's great! I've got a date with Rita tonight and...”

Getraer shook his head. He'd known Poncharello too long to miss the hollow sound of his enthusiasm. “Come on, Frank.”

Ponch took a deep breath and gave the older man an embarrassed smile. “I never could get one past you, could I?”

Getraer shook his head again. “No, you couldn't. It's Jon's resignation, isn't it?”

Ponch nodded. “I guess I still don't understand why he did it.

“I mean, I know why he quit, but I don't understand why he did it this time. Hell, we've both seen worse accidents – like the time Cindi ran off the road – eleven people dead and Jon didn't even... DAMN!” He slammed his fist down hard on the Formica topped table.

“I know, Frank, I know,” Getraer said, quietly. “Look, if it helps any, you and Grossman did a hell of a job saving that woman. Those E.M.T. Courses really paid off.”

Ponch thought back to the morning of the accident. The memory seemed to come in single-frame flashes: the overturned car on the freeway, the sickly sweet smell of marijuana smoke thick in the car, pulling the badly injured driver free, the almost inaudible crying of a baby, Jon rushing forward, the explosion, then Jon flying backward to land heavily on the pavement more than five feet away, unconscious, but otherwise unhurt and the roar of flames as the car burned.

There hadn't been time for Jon to get near the car, much less, save the crying infant before the car's gas take exploded.

The baby's tiny body had been found much later trapped beneath the passenger seat. The woman hadn't even put the child in a car-seat. So much had happened in such a short time that the ten minutes he and Grossman had spent waiting for the paramedics had seemed to take hours. Getraer's voice brought him back to the present.

“Frank, I know it's hard, but Jon's got to work through this in his own way, and so do you.”

Ponch sighed. “Yeah, I guess you're right, Sarge. Thanks.”

Getraer smiled as he watched the younger man sand and leave the room. Baker and Poncharello had been a good team. Jon Baker's homegrown brand of cowboy common sense mixed with Frank Poncharello's barrio street smarts had been an unbeatable combination. He'd miss that. He just hoped Jon would be happy chasing cows instead of speeders and passing out hay instead of citations.


End file.
